The research on mind reading is still in it's infancy with bulky systems and limited mind mapping pattern recognition methodologies keyed to words but the ability to build compact, mind reading machines is coming whether you like it or not.

Combine mind reading with face recognition and one has the potential start point to 1984 if Face.com's tech works as advertised.

It was a great year for blueberries, a fruit yours truly adores. At the height of the season, my family buys little containers of same (3 for $5.00) which last for about a nano second in the Robert E household. The same fetish also applies to strawberries, blackberries and raspberries, gems that grow in abundance in CT during the summer but of course, this little post is not about adoration but rather about health as these lovelies, along with walnuts, may play an important role in keeping the brain supple.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Ok, I'm a techie. I've worked with systems for over 35 years so I know a little. Because of this, I read, with a bit of bemusement, this little gem from the NY Times titled Digital Devices Deprive Brain of Needed Downtime, something I have known about for some quite time.

Digital devices, particularly smart phones, are time killers to the max. They are fun and addictive as I have come to find out with my Droid, a time killer supreme (iPhone, Blackberry, HTC, the list goes on and on and on.) as it is the first computer you take with you EVERYWHERE, begging to be attended to without regard for you or your grey matter but...

without recharging your brain, the creative act doesn't happen. Without sleep or breaks from digital noise or constant concentration to said smart phone (or any other system), the brain cannot create. It's similar to the lack of sleep, without it, we die. The same inability to get away from the vagaries of the world (via day dreaming etc.) also applies to work. Without respite, nothing of worth gets done.

After reading this, one readily sees how never ending interaction with systems turns people into really boring entities unable to think in innovative ways. (Texting oriPod equipped with earbuds come to mind here.) How do I know this? From direct experience as tech is very seductive, a seeming escape from reality but not really.

From that perspective, I cycle, without anything electronic on the bike, just gears, tires, wheels and bike frame, rolling sculpture technical to the max but nary a gadget in place telling me my speed, heart rate or power output per pedal stroke, esoteric data I don't need while being in the world but not of it.

Oil, the unstated god of power in the Middle East, plays a true Oz in Body of Lies, a must see film able to depict, in part, the dubious role the US plays in a region of the world we know next to nothing about, a place forever cursed as long as the oil god remains in place, able to support the unelected governing elite who rule in unjust fashion using religion, violence and propaganda as the preferred weapons of choice. As in Enemy of the State, the specter of tech abounds with surveillance and the Net as prime driverss while, at the same time, an arrogant lack of awareness and respect for local customs corrupt human intel in all too familiar ways.

In a very indirect way, Transformers II, Revenge of the Fallen, (A marginal film at best, the first was far better) shows how AI, combined with nanotech, give rise to machines of frightening capability, especially in the areas of surveillance and communications, applications requiring little power to make magic happen. (smart phones anyone?) To this end, the kind of tech seen in this flick is coming sooner than thought possible due to the ubiquity of the net and the unified software set it provides to the world. (The smart marbles sequence, IMHO, is the highlight of the film)